Cracked, sunken, crumbling or lifting into a trip hazard. We'll tell you whether it's worth patching or whether the honest fix is to take the section out and pour it right — and why.
The honest bit
There's money to be made selling patches that look fine for a season. We'd rather tell you the truth on the first visit, because the second call — when the same crack has opened back up — is a worse conversation for everybody.
The question is almost never how bad the crack looks. It's what's happening underneath. A tight line in an otherwise solid, well-supported slab is cosmetic. The same line with one side sitting a half-inch higher than the other is the ground telling you the base has failed.
We'll say which one you've got, and we'll say it before you've spent anything.
Read it yourself
Before you call anyone, walk out and look for these four things. They're what we'll be looking at too.
Run your hand across it. If both sides are flush and the gap is hairline, it's usually shrinkage and it's cosmetic. If one side has dropped or lifted, the ground underneath has moved — and no amount of filler is going to hold that together.
Step on each side of the crack and feel for movement. A panel that rocks is sitting on a void — the base has washed out or settled under it. That's a dig-and-rebuild job, not a surface one, and it will only get worse through the next wet season.
Shallow flaking — spalling — can sometimes be resurfaced. But if you can see rusted steel at the surface, water has been getting into the slab for a long time and the reinforcement is expanding as it corrodes. That one only goes one direction.
Look at it after rain. Water standing on the slab, running along its edge, or pooling against the house is the reason a lot of concrete fails early here. Fixing the drainage is part of the repair, otherwise the new pour has the same job description as the old one.
Patch or pull
Plenty of jobs genuinely are a patch. One trip hazard, one chipped edge, one section that has sunk beside otherwise solid concrete — those are quick, they're cheap, and they're the right call.
What we won't do is grind down four trip hazards on a driveway that's rocking in three places and call it repaired. If the base has gone, the honest number is for taking it out, and you should be given that number so you can decide.
Section replacement // Panel swap // Trip hazard removal // Edge rebuild // Full tear-out // Re-pour // Drainage correction // Haul-off
How we call it
Two things matter: whether it's moving, and whether the two sides are at different heights. A tight hairline that hasn't changed in years is usually cosmetic. A crack you can get a finger into, or one where one side sits higher than the other, means the ground under the slab is moving.
Often, yes. If the rest is sound we saw-cut and replace the failed section at the joints. Where several panels are sunken or rocking, that points at the base rather than the concrete — replacing one section there just moves the problem along a few feet.
Not at first. New concrete starts lighter and darkens as it weathers, so expect a visible difference for the first several months. We match the finish and the joint pattern so it reads as part of the same slab once the colour evens out.
That's spalling — usually water getting into the surface, a poor original finish, or salts. Shallow and localised, it can sometimes be resurfaced. Where the steel underneath has started rusting, replacement is the honest answer.
Yes. Break-out, loading and haul-off are part of the job. You don't need to arrange a dumpster or a second contractor for it.
Call and describe it. If it's a trip hazard or something that's about to get worse in the next rain, say so — that moves up the list.
Free estimate
Tell us where it is and what's happening — cracked, sunk, rocking, flaking. Photos help if you have them. You'll get a straight recommendation either way.
Nearby
Front walks, side paths, steps and landings that sit level and drain.
Sidewalks & walkways
Dig, grade, break out and haul off — the work that happens before the pour.
All servicesRoyse City · Rockwall County
Free assessment, honest recommendation, and a number for both options where both are real.
